. >>> well on this christmas eve, the fiscal cliff is one day closer. much of the talk in congress on sunday focused on who's to blame for the lack of a deal. there are eight days left for lawmakers to head off mandatory budget cuts and tax hikes, and nancy cordes is in honolulu where president obama is having his christmas vacation. nancy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, rebecca. it's almost as if the president and congressional leaders have called a sort of time-out when it comes to the fiscal cliff. there are no major discussions going on right now about what to do now that talks between the president and the speaker appear to have stalled. in fact, the president and senate majority leader harry reid were both here in honolulu yesterday for the funeral of hawaii senator daniel inouye. we're told they didn't really discuss what to do next. before he left washington the president urged leaders to craft a sort of scaled down plan that simply extends the bush tax rates for the middle class and extends long-term unemployment benefits for a